One of the most discouraging things for pastors, Bible School teachers, and other ministry leaders is to see hordes of church members jump into a class or ministry with both feet, only to tip-toe their way out over time. Commitment is lacking among Christians, and the church is feeling its effects. Virtually everyone has heard the proverbial stat that "twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work."
In trying to analyze this pervasive problem biblically, I've come to a few conclusions.
1. Lack of commitment may indicate a lack of salvation. That is to say, many who claim to love and follow the Lord Jesus Christ aren't genuinely saved. They stick around awhile to see how things benefit them, but they soon disappear once they hear a hard-hitting truth or a call to commitment. This was true of the crowds of Jesus' day, for He Himself told them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled" (John 6:26). These people were following Jesus because they were more interested in how He could fulfill their physical appetites and pleasures rather than the deepest needs of their souls. And so, "from that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more" (John 6:66).
This pattern of defection continued in the early church. The apostle John wrote, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us" (1 John 2:19). For some, a lack of commitment may indicate a lack of conversion.
2. Lack of commitment may indicate a lack of faith. Not saving faith, but serving faith. David confessed plainly, "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13). The apostle Paul exhorted the Galatian believers, "Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" (Gal. 6:6). What keeps us going when the road of commitment gets long and hard is the belief that what we're doing will pay off at some point. But once we start thinking that what we're doing won't make a difference, we get down and give up.
3. Lack of commitment may indicate a lack of love. Scripture commands us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37). The apostle Paul wrote, "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again" (2 Cor. 5:14-15). Why did Christ die and rise again? So that His people might live for Him and not themselves. Yet many professing Christians are living for themselves instead of Christ. That's not to say that they have completely abandoned Christ. No, not at all. They still come to church, try to have their quiet time, and throw a few bucks into the offering plate when it is passed. They have just enough commitment to ease their conscience. They give God a slim piece of the pie and keep the rest for themselves. They have a divided heart. Their compartmentalized Christianity does not allow for all-out commitment.
David, a man after God's own heart, found the need to pray: "Unite my heart to fear Your name" (Psalm 86:11). This prayer could be translated, "Give me singleness of heart." Only as our hearts are fully devoted to the Lord will we be fully committed to doing what pleases Him. Indeed, this is essentially what David goes on to say in the very next verse, in anticipation of God's answering his prayer: "I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forevermore" (Ps. 86:12).
4. Lack of commitment may indicate a seeming lack of resources. Surely there are some who truly want to serve the Lord faithfully, but they seem to lack the resources to do so. They are short on time, energy, money, and the like. While this may appear to be the case, we must remember that God will supply our every need, according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19). God delights to show Himself strong through our weaknesses, rich through our poverty, and sovereign over our schedules! In fact, this fourth point really goes back to the second point: faith. Do we trust God to provide where He guides? Do we believe that He will give us the necessary resources to do what He calls and commands us to do?
If any church had an excuse to bail out on Christian service and commitment, it was the churches of Macedonia. They were dirt poor. They didn't have enough resources to meet their own needs, let alone the needs of others! Yet in Scripture we read "that in a great trial of aflliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I (Paul) bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they gave first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God" (2 Cor. 8:2-5).
Ah, there's the key! This takes us back to the third point: love for God. Notice that the Macedonian believers first gave themselves to God -- then as a result they gave themselves in service to others, God giving them the resources to give beyond their natural ability! The Christian life is one of "faith working through love" (Gal. 5:6). One commentator sums up nicely the meaning of this expression: "The person who lives by faith is internally motivated by love for God and Christ (cf. Matt. 22:37-40), which supernaturally issues forth in reverent worship, genuine obedience, and self-sacrificing love for others."
Proverbs 20:6 says, "Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?" It's easy to find people who profess to be loyal, but it's another thing to find those who are actually faithful. As William MacDonald put it, "There is a difference between what men are, and what they want others to think they are."
What about you? How is your commitment to Christ and His kingdom? Are you truly serving Christ or simply "playing church"? Does God have all your heart or a mere fraction of it? Do you pay lip service in the church without fulfilling your commitments to the church?
"Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful" (1 Cor. 4:2). If you find yourself discouraged, lacking in spirit in your service to the Lord, why not pray what David did in Psalm 51:10 - "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Remember, "those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isa. 40:31).
In trying to analyze this pervasive problem biblically, I've come to a few conclusions.
1. Lack of commitment may indicate a lack of salvation. That is to say, many who claim to love and follow the Lord Jesus Christ aren't genuinely saved. They stick around awhile to see how things benefit them, but they soon disappear once they hear a hard-hitting truth or a call to commitment. This was true of the crowds of Jesus' day, for He Himself told them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled" (John 6:26). These people were following Jesus because they were more interested in how He could fulfill their physical appetites and pleasures rather than the deepest needs of their souls. And so, "from that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more" (John 6:66).
This pattern of defection continued in the early church. The apostle John wrote, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us" (1 John 2:19). For some, a lack of commitment may indicate a lack of conversion.
2. Lack of commitment may indicate a lack of faith. Not saving faith, but serving faith. David confessed plainly, "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13). The apostle Paul exhorted the Galatian believers, "Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" (Gal. 6:6). What keeps us going when the road of commitment gets long and hard is the belief that what we're doing will pay off at some point. But once we start thinking that what we're doing won't make a difference, we get down and give up.
3. Lack of commitment may indicate a lack of love. Scripture commands us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37). The apostle Paul wrote, "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again" (2 Cor. 5:14-15). Why did Christ die and rise again? So that His people might live for Him and not themselves. Yet many professing Christians are living for themselves instead of Christ. That's not to say that they have completely abandoned Christ. No, not at all. They still come to church, try to have their quiet time, and throw a few bucks into the offering plate when it is passed. They have just enough commitment to ease their conscience. They give God a slim piece of the pie and keep the rest for themselves. They have a divided heart. Their compartmentalized Christianity does not allow for all-out commitment.
David, a man after God's own heart, found the need to pray: "Unite my heart to fear Your name" (Psalm 86:11). This prayer could be translated, "Give me singleness of heart." Only as our hearts are fully devoted to the Lord will we be fully committed to doing what pleases Him. Indeed, this is essentially what David goes on to say in the very next verse, in anticipation of God's answering his prayer: "I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forevermore" (Ps. 86:12).
4. Lack of commitment may indicate a seeming lack of resources. Surely there are some who truly want to serve the Lord faithfully, but they seem to lack the resources to do so. They are short on time, energy, money, and the like. While this may appear to be the case, we must remember that God will supply our every need, according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19). God delights to show Himself strong through our weaknesses, rich through our poverty, and sovereign over our schedules! In fact, this fourth point really goes back to the second point: faith. Do we trust God to provide where He guides? Do we believe that He will give us the necessary resources to do what He calls and commands us to do?
If any church had an excuse to bail out on Christian service and commitment, it was the churches of Macedonia. They were dirt poor. They didn't have enough resources to meet their own needs, let alone the needs of others! Yet in Scripture we read "that in a great trial of aflliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I (Paul) bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they gave first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God" (2 Cor. 8:2-5).
Ah, there's the key! This takes us back to the third point: love for God. Notice that the Macedonian believers first gave themselves to God -- then as a result they gave themselves in service to others, God giving them the resources to give beyond their natural ability! The Christian life is one of "faith working through love" (Gal. 5:6). One commentator sums up nicely the meaning of this expression: "The person who lives by faith is internally motivated by love for God and Christ (cf. Matt. 22:37-40), which supernaturally issues forth in reverent worship, genuine obedience, and self-sacrificing love for others."
Proverbs 20:6 says, "Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?" It's easy to find people who profess to be loyal, but it's another thing to find those who are actually faithful. As William MacDonald put it, "There is a difference between what men are, and what they want others to think they are."
What about you? How is your commitment to Christ and His kingdom? Are you truly serving Christ or simply "playing church"? Does God have all your heart or a mere fraction of it? Do you pay lip service in the church without fulfilling your commitments to the church?
"Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful" (1 Cor. 4:2). If you find yourself discouraged, lacking in spirit in your service to the Lord, why not pray what David did in Psalm 51:10 - "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Remember, "those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isa. 40:31).